Now, the big man's angry. And opposing players don't like it when he's angry.

The 7'2", 278-pound monster in the middle is sending shots back like bad fish. He's leading the league with 4.78 blocks per game, and it's not even close. Anthony Davis (3.11) is the only other player averaging better than three.

Hibbert's 43 swats on the season are more than 15 teams have managed. If that's not impressive enough, consider the fact that he's doing this while playing fewer than 30 minutes a night. Simply stretching that figure over 36 minutes would push his blocks average to 5.8:

Weird thing: went to look up Roy Hibbert's block rate, and my laptop just started screaming in terror.

Only eight players in league history have ever finished a season with at least 4.0 blocks per game. Move that threshold up to Hibbert's current 4.8 mark, and only three players (Mark Eaton, ManuteBol and Elmore Smith) are left standing.

The last player to average 4.0 blocks was DikembeMutombo in 1995-96 (4.5). Only two others (David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon) have accomplished that feat since 1990. These three players claimed seven Defensive Player of the Year awards during their careers.

Who will win the 2013-14 DPOY race?

Roy HibbertThe FieldSubmit Votevote to see results

Who will win the 2013-14 DPOY race?

Roy Hibbert

83.1%

The Field

16.9%

Total votes: 2,066

Now, obviously there's more to defense than just shot-blocking. But all defensive metrics are doing justice to Hibbert's prediction right now.

Opposing centers have posted a meager 9.0 player efficiency rating against him—league average is 15.0—this season, via 82games.com. He's holding opponents to just 34.1 percent shooting at the rim, via NBA.com, tied for the third-lowest mark among all players with at least five point-blank attempts against them per game.